Writer Peter Tomasi is no stranger to the Batman universe. A longtime writer and editor for DC recently coming off a run on Batman and Robin, Tomasi's most recent project is expanding on the world of Rocksteady Studio's Batman: Arkham universe in ways we've never seen before with the Batman: Arkham Knight prequel series.
For fans of the game and newcomers alike, the Batman: Arkham Knight comic is your perfect weekly dose of Batman action. Tomasi recently chatted with us about what the work process is like on a digital first, weekly series, the future of Harley Quinn and exactly why we haven't seen much of the book's title character in the issues released so far.
Spoilers ahead for Batman: Arkham City and the Batman: Arkham Knight prequel comic.
What is the process like for crafting the story for this prequel comic? How involved are the game developers at Rocksteady?
I got a call from Alex Antone at DC, my editor, and he said ‘Hey, you have any interest in doing a Batman: Arkham Knight book?' Obviously the game was in development and I said ‘Yeah, sure.' I love the games and so it was really a no brainer when it came to agreeing to that.
So look, these are the parameters of the game, here is the outline of the story, give us your pitch. So I came up with a pitch and they approved it pretty quick and we were off and running. It was very easy, there were really no hiccups. It was just a question of making sure I didn't step on the game's story and the game's characters, and that was really about it. I was given pretty much free rein to just have a lot of fun and construct my own story.
Did you have to make sure characters were going to be in a certain place by the end of the comic storyline so they could be set up in place for the game?
The way we worked with the characters, I asked for a character list, one for who I can use and who I can't use. And then I started to build out some of it from there. That was really it. I knew who was off-limits for now, who was dead. I wanted to know everything, because you play these games and then you forget. I was making sure I had my i's dotted and went through the list and figured out some cool beats with these characters and started it off from there. That was about it.
So you've gotten the chance to play the games?
My son got a nice Christmas present from Geoff Johns [DC creative officer and writer] one year. So we have the games and we've always been playing them and enjoying them. You know, it was sort of one of those things. The games are so great design-wise and character-wise and story-wise and then when I get that call, ‘Oh, wow, this worked out good,' because I was also leaving Batman and Robin. So it was nice to keep my fingers in the Batman world, and especially in a new world that Rocksteady has spent so much time and energy creating. It was a lot of fun. Alex in DC has kind of been my point man, I don't really have any contact with Rocksteady, they put the stuff in front of Rocksteady and they kind of get the yay or the nay. Which really has been not many of the nays, and left to our own devices.
You haven't had a secret meeting where you got to play through all of the new game?
I know, I wish. I haven't been able to play it. I've been promised I'll be getting it but haven't been able to play it. Just the outline on paper of the main beats of the story. Having that information was enough to build out the prequel story.
Just from reading the series, you like to incorporate some of the gadgets players have used in the games and the characters that are specifically in the games, so it seems like you have a good understanding of what makes that universe unique. You were talking writing Batman and Robin as well - is it difficult to have two different Batman universes you are working in?
I still had a few issues of Batman and Robin when I started Arkham Knight, but I ended up discovering I didn't cross the streams, it didn't really affect much. The Rocksteady world is so distinct and the DC universe that I was working in with those characters for so many years was so distinct in my head that I was able to keep them separate. So it worked out rather well.
How is the workload for this series different from series you've done in the past? This is a weekly, digital-first comic that they collect in the actual paper versions and the trades. Is it a different process since you have an issue coming out every week?
It's called speed. I don't mean speed the drug (laughs), I mean really making sure - when it's a weekly, it honestly changes your whole work approach. It's been about really cranking up my speed on this stuff, getting ahead as much as possible. The more I get ahead on the scripts, it allows the artists to really deliver higher quality and at the same time build in the secondary artist team that Alex is able to pick who are also of a high quality. I've been really lucky, Viktor Bogdanovic has been great, and we've got some really good guys, Ig Guara, John Rauch who is doing a couple of issues, too. It's been a real blast to have good artists on these types of books. Sometimes you tend to get guys who move so fast quality starts to drop off, but we started off with a head of steam and a nice, big early lead so we were able to keep the quality level high, which I'm really proud of from the artist's point of view. They've been doing great.
I think when you hear "digital first" weekly series, in your mind you kind of assume it might not be quite as good as something else, but I think DC has proved with the Injustice comic, and they have Mortal Kombat and Arkham Knight now, that these books are just as high quality as anything else DC is putting out. I don't know numbers, obviously, but it seems to be working out really well.
I'm happy to hear that because I do really feel proud of both sides. We're not looking at it as we're the "black sheep" or "bench players" or the "B team." We're approaching and I'm approaching, as is Vic and the other artists, we are approaching this book - you know, they are charging a price point for them and we want to be sure people are getting value and they're enjoying this stuff. I'm putting 100 percent into it and I know the artists are. There are no shortcuts or 'let's just make a cash drop.' There is a real sense of 'let's deliver to the fans a really good Batman book' and right now I feel like we've done that and I'm really proud of it.
Going into some questions about some storylines that have been going on in the series: The first couple issues, and I didn't notice this at first because I hadn't read the previous Arkham City comics, but it kind of retreads, it picks up right after the Arkham City game with the Joker dying. And then it retreads ground some previous comics had done but is also different in some ways. Just curious why the decision was made to pick up right after Arkham City?
Joker played such a major part of those games, I wanted to have a nice wrap-up with it and explore just the ripples of the Joker's sort of legacy played out. Especially with a book that comes out once a week, 10 pages once a week, we were able to get through the Joker stuff rather quickly and we would be remiss not to address it again. Really the key for me was I wanted it. The other comics that had come before, which I guess it has been close to two years since it has been out - I thought it was best to think of those as, not to say they didn't exist, but sometimes I think we make the mistake of trying to tie too much. So let's make it out as if we're starting from scratch here, we are coming up right at the end when the Joker dies and take it from there and go off and running quickly. And that was it, and they agreed that was a nice way to approach it and not having to worry retreading anything. The Joker is such a great character and such a popular character that we wanted fans who aren't reading or aren't even playing the game to say 'Oh, wow, I love that character, what I've seen of him in other media,' and next thing you know we've pulled from that perspective, too. And then take them on that journey that follows the ripples of Batman and Gotham, and that takes us into the new story.
That's kind of what is interesting about the Arkham universe. Joker is gone and it feels like there is more finality to it. He could come back, but ....
That's what we wanted to do. We wanted to bring finality to it. We wanted to tie the bow and tie it tight, saying, 'Guys, he is not coming back, this is it. This is the last you've seen of him.' And that was that. We wanted to make that clear.
You are talking about ripples, and I think Harley Quinn in this series is really interesting because she's in such an interesting spot. She has always been in Joker's shadow, so to speak, and now that Joker is gone she is kind of taking charge of her own life. She's joined up with Penguin. What can we expect to see from her as she continues to go on without Joker?
I can't go into too much, but that's really been the key to say 'What happens when a character has to step out of a shadow?' It's really interesting to ask that question as a writer. This character has been joined at the hip to Joker for so long, how do we make her - explore and peel away the layers of her - to make her a fuller character. It's been a lot of fun and we have a lot of plans for Harley down the road.
She's kind of a fan favorite, one of the more interesting characters in the Batman universe. Fans seem to have latched onto her.
Yeah, how many characters have become so iconic in just the 25 years since Bruce Timm and Paul Dini [created her]? I mean that's a character now that is a key mythological factor in the Batman universe. That doesn't happen a lot. To be able to spread across all those media platforms, especially with Suicide Squad coming out, it's interesting to watch. The monthly book has been doing great for DC and who would have thought? DC was just as surprised. Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner (creative team behind New 52 Harley Quinn) said the same thing. They were taken aback just as much as anybody when the book was so successful and well-received. She's a great character.
Moving onto another character who has played a big role in the Arkham Knight comic so far is Commissioner Gordon. Recently, the idea is that Barbara and Bruce's big plan is for Gordon to run for mayor. Obviously you can't go into this too much, but do you think Gordon seems like a good mayor? He doesn't seem like a politician. He is kind of a straight shooter.
Sometimes I think that's what the world needs more of. We need the nonpoliticians to be in office, guys who will get stuff done. Michael Bloomberg here in New York, he wasn't a career politician, the guy was a businessman. And he went in with his way of doing things and has helped the city in many ways, some things not so great, but overall was the right mayor at the right time. I think a guy like Gordon has those same abilities, who knows the city and loves the city and respects justice. Someone who would be a guiding light just as much as Batman would be in terms of being in the dark, so they have somebody in the daytime able to guide Gotham through its trials and tribulations. As a mayor, I think he could easily handle it, especially after being a commissioner. The amount of flak and the amount of politics, you have to admit, if you become a commissioner of any police in any state, you do have to become a politician.
Arkham Knight as a character kind of pops up here and there in this series, but he isn't really a big focus so far.
That's been kind of the plan and part of the strategy. We don't want to step on the toes of the game, the game obviously will be out soon, but it's important for us not to reveal as much and let the game, who created the character, let them be the ones out of the gate with a bunch of things. It has been a slow burn for Arkham Knight, we wanted to pepper his appearances. He is more mysterious, and to me he is more interesting if he isn't all over the place. There have been very particular places we've put him in. We've also got a great six-issue mini-series coming out called Arkham Knight: Genesis, which is his entire origin.
That will be coming out after the game, so you will be free to explore his identity and things like that?
Exactly. That Arkham Knight: Genesis six-issue mini, the floodgates are open. You'll find out a lot of stuff about who and what makes the Arkham Knight tick.
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You can check out our latest Batman: Arkham Knight comic review here. Batman: Arkham Knight releases for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on June 23. Batman: Arkham Knight: Genesis is on stands June 30.
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